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Glite Dictionary
the halt

the halt

9.9
People who cannot walk well
  • noun
  • Slur
translation icon : los cojos
  • Charity was extended to the halt as well as to the poor and orphaned.

Examples

  • The parable mentioned helping the halt and the blind.

  • Look at the halt!

  • In ancient times, the halt were often marginalized by society.

  • In the village, the halt gathered to share their stories.

  • Throughout history, many stories have been told about the struggles faced by the halt in their communities.

  • The charity was established to support the halt and provide them with the resources they needed to thrive.

  • He dedicated his life to helping the halt, believing in their strength and resilience despite their challenges.

Surface Forms

halt singular
halts plural

Morphology

the + halt

The phrase 'the halt' is compositionally built from the definite article 'the' plus the adjective 'halt' (unable to walk), and English uses 'the + adjective' to refer to a class (e.g. 'the poor', 'the rich'). This productive, cross‑linguistic pattern makes the meaning 'people who are lame' directly inferable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words, despite the expression being archaic.

Etymology

The halt comes from the old use of the word halt, which meant 'to limp'. So groups of people who limped were called the halt, meaning 'those who are lame'.